The Dreams That Didn't Make The Grade
by BonesBird
Summary: A girl. A boy. The unsub rotates. slightly AU… not much though MY FIRST CRIMI CASE FIC! NOW COMPLETE
1. The Unsub

**Title: The Dreams That Didn't Make The Grade  
Author: BonesBird  
Betaed By: Fabreeze &RedheadedDynamite  
Summary: A girl. A boy. The unsub rotates. (slightly AU… not much though) MY FIRST CRIMI CASE FIC!  
Disclaimer: I don't own these folks… CBS owns most. Redheaded Dynamite owns Vee and I own all the other OC's.  
Lyrics: Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters and The Story of a Lonely Girl - Lostprophets**

**The title and lyrics for this story came from this song, as this story idea hit me while writing it. I asked my very good friends, and fellow fans, Fabi and Paige for pointers, so without them this story would have gone nowhere. **

**By the way… I have someone who calls me "Bones" now… which of course just makes me laugh… its not like he doesn't know my name… just thought I'd share that**

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* * *

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_Broken hearts and torn up letters  
Girl you just can't dance forever  
If you wanna make it better_

JJ sat in her office as the call came in. Police in DC were calling them in. She hated to break up the team, straight off the back of a case in Ohio. The team had barely had any time with their families. Will had kept Henry up late the night before so she'd be able to have some time with him before bed, and she had taken the morning as personal time so she could help get him ready for playschool in the afternoon. She hated the back to back cases they got after a quiet spell, and the recent quiet spell had been a long one. Three weeks between cases that needed their presence. She had spent time with Henry. Garcia and Morgan had had the space and time needed to make a relationship, and the boss and the young agent, Vee, had time to break up and make up. A lot had changed in the last month. She had been sad to see the quiet spell come to an end, but she had watched as the more action-oriented members of the team had gotten bored with the constant reams of paperwork to fill in for the profiles they did for less urgent cases, cold cases and the like. She took the paperwork up to Hotch's office and got ready to present the case to him. As she knocked on the door she saw the team look up at her. They knew a case had come in. She walked into Hotch's office and without pre-amble laid the files out on the desk

"Where" he asked, after looking over the evidence that the deaths were connected

"North East DC" she said, accepting the first file back off him

"How many?" he asked, handing the rest of the files

"At least 6, over 6 weeks" Hotch stood up, and motioned for her to call the team to the meeting room. Reid, Prentiss and Morgan had already walked in. Rossi arrived just after JJ, while Veronica and Garcia arrived together, probably meaning they had been doing their paperwork together in Garcia's office. She stood at the front of the room and clicked the six case files up on the screen.

"We've been asked to help a detective Rogers in DC. Six teens have been found in DC over 6 weeks. The first was Katie Webster, 15, reported missing 7 weeks ago, found 6 weeks ago on Friday. Second victim Daniel Faraday, 16, same system, missing 6 weeks, found 5 weeks. Same pattern for the next four, Kimberly Cole, 17, Lucan Walsh, 14, Gracie-Lou Finn, 15 and Jack Pollock, also 15. They all went missing from the same area, but no obvious connections between them. They all died the same way."

"No schools, no friends?" Prentiss asked

"Jack and Katie went to the same school, and Kimberly and Lucan. But no connection through friends. We can't find any connections between the others"

"The boys all look the same… so do the girls" Reid pointed out "and one through the heart doesn't sound too personal"

"No, but the fact they are alive for a week between taken date and discovery date could mean that these kids interest him on those dates." Morgan replied, hashing out ideas.

"We need to interview the families. Emily, you work with Garcia on finding out about the children online. Also see if you can trace any other possible victims. Vee, JJ, ask the victims families if it would be possible for them to come down to Quantico. We need to interview them as quickly as possible. Reid, Rossi, Morgan - we need to go look at the dump sites" Hotch commanded the team. They all stood as one to start work on the case.

* * *

**Erm. Yeah. Case. Woo, woo, woo. I wrote a short case fic for Bones (and I'm blocked and Kelly's too busy with our joint) but hopefully this'll be longer.**

**This song is so important to this story I suggest you search for it on YouTube/Spotify/iTunes whatever you use. I literally had it on repeat as I wrote, and I wrote the whole thing. I love this song. Can you tell.**


	2. Catching The Case

**Title: The Dreams That Didn't Make The Grade  
****Author: BonesBird  
****Input from: Fabreeze &RedheadedDynamite  
****Summary: A girl. A boy. The unsub rotates. (slightly AU… not much though)  
****Characters: ALL  
****Disclaimer: I don't own these folks… CBS owns most. Redheaded Dynamite owns Vee and I own all the other OC's.  
****Lyrics: Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters and The Story of a Lonely Girl - Lostprophets**

**Chapter 2 = interviewing the families**

* * *

_Hands are in her pockets and she's scared to look  
__Her pictures frozen and she's closed the book_

Veronica sat at her desk in the bullpen waiting for the family of victim 2 to arrive. She watched junior agents bring families up, and while she, Prentiss and JJ were interviewing the families the boys were out at the dump sites, she understood the logic of the girls staying and working with the families, but to her it seemed a little sexiest on the part of her boss and boyfriend. She stood as a devastated couple walked towards her.

"Mr and Mrs Faraday? I'm agent Ardeen"

"You're investigating what ha-happened to Daniel" said the slight, blonde woman as she almost collapsed into the chair on the other side of Veronica

"Yes ma'am I am. Along with the rest of my team" she said, looking between the two people sat the other side of her. She couldn't imagine the pain of losing a 16-year-old she'd created

"Why is an FBI team investigating the death of one teenager" Mr Faraday asked, looking her in the eye with an intensity that she hadn't expected

"We don't believe Daniel is the only victim. We have connected his death with that of 5 other teenagers. I need to ask you some questions?" She asked, she watched as Mr Faraday sat back in his chair and covered his eyes with his hand, while Mrs Faraday took a big sniff. Veronica passed her a tissue. She nodded and Veronica pulled the paper closer to her, she didn't want to write the notes onto her computer, she wasn't a touch typist like Reid and Prentiss.

"Did Daniel use any social networking sites?" was her first question, they had already found a Facebook page for him, but they hadn't found anything else

"His b-band have a Myspace. He spoke of it a lot as he updated it the most often."

"What about his friends?"

"They were all on Facebook. We threatened to t-take his internet away. If he wasn't on his drums he was online. He w-was determined that his band would be the only career he needed" she sniffed again, and Veronica reached over, laying a hand on top of hers

"Had Daniel mentioned any problems with anybody?"

"Everyone loved El. They always did. Since he was a baby" Mr Faraday sobbed as he finished that sentence. Veronica looked over at Prentiss, who had gotten a similar reaction from Mr and Mrs Cole. They both shook their heads at each other. The parents knew little about the kids habits.

* * *

"So, we've got nothing from the families?" Hotch asked as soon as the team had gathered again in the team room.

"They don't seem to know what the kids get up to" Prentiss said

"Daniel Faraday was in a band though. Any of the other kids got a background in music" Veronica said, sidling closer to Hotch, who gently squeezed her hand.

"Not that I've found so far. All the kids lived a somewhat, interesting, lifestyle though. They did all love music. On Kimberly and Katie's profiles I found mentions of music being life. I also found the only current connection between them and that's a punk-pop group that I myself like to listen to so I don't think that's the connection for these guys" Garcia said, leaning against a chair, "I'm still doing a run for Twitter and Bebo accounts. Most kids sign up to these sites with free emails and don't use their own names. That will take longer than Facebook did."

"Good work Garcia. What about links between friends"

"There are a few links of common friends, but none all the kids have together found yet sir. The girls all have over 500 friends each, and Daniel has almost double that thanks to his music"

"Will it be easier to trace through his band?" JJ asked, noticing the team getting tired. They had been at it all day, and no headway had been made. Tomorrow they expected another body to turn up,

"I doubt it. But I'll be running them too. I did find someone likely to be the next victim. Carolina George, she went missing last Tuesday"

"A week and a day tomorrow, like all the others" Hotch said, shaking his head. Knowing that if Carolina George was the next victim, there was nothing his team could do for her yet. "Time to call it a night. Go home, get some sleep, we meet back here at 7" He said, and followed his team out.

* * *

**So. Hopefully you'll have enough information soon.**

**I got back from London like an hour ago! It was awesome!**


	3. Carolina

**Title: The Dreams That Didn't Make The Grade  
****Author: BonesBird  
****Input from: Fabreeze &RedheadedDynamite  
****Summary: A girl. A boy. The unsub rotates. (slightly AU… not much though)  
****Characters: ALL  
****Disclaimer: I don't own these folks… CBS owns most. Redheaded Dynamite owns Vee and I own all the other OC's.  
****Lyrics: Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters and The Story of a Lonely Girl - Lostprophets**

**Chapter 3 = The Victim**

* * *

_Jealousy has only got one friend  
__And Joey's heart was never meant to mend_

It was cold. It was dark. She didn't know how long she'd been in this dank place. She was scared, she was tired, and she desperately wanted to go home. She had heard the shouts as someone had been brought in to the cage next to hers. Last week she'd been in a few hours when the last occupant was taken. She didn't know where he'd gone. He'd managed to get names to her before, and she knew it was her job to pass the names along. Tina, Bradley, Katie, Daniel, Kimberley, Lucan, Gracie and Jack. Though she'd add her own name. They had a marker where the names were written on a wall. She added her name, knowing it wouldn't be long. The girls list was longer than the list of names she remembered. It also had dates of birth. There was Sophie before Tina, and Ella before Sophie. More names and dates that she couldn't see without a light.

"Hey, hey, whats your name?" She asked the boy in the cage

"Adam"

"Adam, he'll take me soon. You need to remember these names"

"I'll try"

"Think of them constantly. And tell the next person in my cage."

"You'll be going?"

"I won't have a choice. Let me tell you the names. Then mark your name and date of birth on the wall in there. In case we're never found. They can tell our p-parents" she stuttered, before taking a deep breath and getting herself calm

"OK. Give me the names"

"Tina, Bradley, Katie, Daniel, Kimberly, Lucan, Gracie, Jack and Carolina"

"Tina, Bradley, Katie, Daniel, Kimberly, Lucan, Gracie, Jack and Caroline"

"No, Carolina, like the states" She said, hearing the main door to their prison open. She passed him the marker and touched his fingers "Good luck Adam. See you on the other side" She said, scrambling to the back of the cage as the door opened. She fought as he pulled her out. She knew she wouldn't see the inside of her cage again.

"CAROLINA!" The boy shouted. But the girl couldn't answer.

* * *

**I thought we needed to see the way the kids were treated, and that they knew how many had gone before. I only wanted this to be really short.**

**I wasn't going to update this often. But I'm so bad at keeping to long scheduals. Plus we're gonna need the fics with our 3 week break. How can CBS do this to us! Right?**


	4. Finding The Connection

**Title: The Dreams That Didn't Make The Grade  
****Author: BonesBird  
****Input from: Fabreeze &RedheadedDynamite  
****Summary: A girl. A boy. The unsub rotates. (slightly AU… not much though)  
********Characters: ALL  
****************Disclaimer: I don't own these folks… CBS owns most. Redheaded Dynamite owns Vee and I own all the other OC's.  
****Lyrics: Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters and The Story of a Lonely Girl - Lostprophets  
****Chapter 4 = The Next Victim**

* * *

_Walking faster, now she holds it close  
__The time it matters just to take the dose  
____Empty pockets tell the story_

The morning came and Garcia was sequestered away in her office, searching the net for information on their victims. She had been through the first four, but Gracie-Lou was proving more difficult to log into her account. Garcia wondered if this girl had had a gift with coding, her password was proving difficult for Garcia to crack. She was concentrating so intensely that she hadn't heard her door open, and she jumped about a mile when Morgan laid a hand on her shoulder

"Hey baby girl, anything yet?" he asked, gently stroking her shoulder

"Not yet, though Gracie-Lou is a genius, her password is hard to crack." she said, with a touch of irritation in her tone. They needed to get into Gracie's profile

"Are you being defeated by a 15 year old girl?"

"Never, my prince, merely way-laid" she smiled as she finally got in. Grinning at the happy picture Gracie had on her profile, dancing with her friend. It took her a second to remember that Gracie was dead. She typed in the links for the other victims, and wrote all the names of common friends.

Jack Pollock's account was simpler, and she did the same again, while Morgan sat beside her, pointing out patterns she'd never seen before. As she was starting on Jack's pictures, Morgan got a call.

"Where, I'll be right up. I'll tell her. See you Hotch"

"They found Carolina George?"

"About half a mile from where they found Katie. I gotta get out there. Now you have another profile to look through. Also, see if you can find the boy he's taken?"

"I'm on it sugar. Stay safe" She was shocked as he leant down and kissed her, promising with that more than he could say in words. She refocused on finding the next missing boy. She would search his profile too.

She looked through Carolina's profile, her pictures, her friends and her events. After that she started looking for the next missing boy.

Twenty minutes of searching showed that he had moved areas. He had taken a boy from a different area of the city, but with a similar demographic, she called Morgan, the rang Hotch when Morgan didn't answer

"_Garcia_"

"Sir, I know the boy he's taken. Adam Cuthbert"

"_Thanks Garcia_" Hotch hung up. She went back to searching through names. JJ, Emily and Veronica came down, bringing her food and drinks, dragging her away.

She knew she was near a breakthrough.

3 hours after Carolina was found she had it.

* * *

**So… Garcia knows the connection. What do you think it is? Review and tell me. The person who gets it gets a cookie… somehow… Fabi and Paige need not apply…**


	5. Interviewing The Parents

**Title: The Dreams That Didn't Make The Grade  
****Author: BonesBird  
****Input from: Fabreeze &RedheadedDynamite  
****Summary: A girl. A boy. The unsub rotates. (slightly AU… not much though)  
****Characters: ALL  
****Disclaimer: I don't own these folks… CBS owns most. Redheaded Dynamite owns Vee and I own all the other OC's.  
****Lyrics: Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters and The Story of a Lonely Girl - Lostprophets**

**Chapter 5 = Carolina and Adam's parents**

* * *

_There's no destiny when everyone's your enemy  
__Take your jealous heart and cast it in to stone_

This was the part of the job Morgan hated most, he and Reid were in a car on the way to Carolina George's house. They were about to tell two parents that their baby girl was gone. He knew that no doubt they would be expecting the police they had dealt with, only on the case a day they hadn't had time to talk to Carolina's parents that she'd been linked to a serial killer. He looked at Reid as he heard a sniff behind the door, he pulled his badge out, and watched as Reid did the same

"Can I help you" Asked the petite red head who answered the door

"I'm agent Morgan, this is Dr. Reid. We're from the FBI, we have some news about your daughter. Can we come in please"

"Of course. OLIVIA, TO YOUR ROOM!" The woman shouted, before showing Morgan and Reid through to the family room, a tiny red headed thing ran past them, They sat down, and looked at the woman, who called her husband to the room "They have news about Carol" she said

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this Mrs George, Carolina was found this morning"

"She's OK?" The woman asked, her heart refusing to accept what her brain realised Morgan had just told her, her husband wrapped his arms around her as she let out a wail. "No, no, no, no, not my Coralina" she said, "her name was Coralina until her father died, I changed it when I married Adrian" the woman wailed. "Now I've nothing of Jack left"

Reid and Morgan sat through the woman's pain, answering what questions her husband asked as best they could. Afterwards they left. Heading for Adam Cuthbert's house.

Arriving at the Cuthbert's and Morgan noticed how radically the unsub had changed locations for Adam Cuthbert's abduction. As Morgan held his credentials at another doorstep that day he hoped they'd find this guy in time to reunite Adam with his parents.

"Hello" came the gruff voice from behind the door

"Hello sir, I'm Derek Morgan and this is Dr. Reid. We're from the FBI, we have some questions about your son Adam"

"Come in, you best ask my wife, I'm not here a lot" He said, Morgan could hear the regret in the mans voice as he led them into the house. They sat on the second couch, and faced their second set of worried parents in the course of the day. Morgan was unsure how he would feel if this was any future children he eventually had.

"Mrs Cuthbert. We've got some information about Adam, we also need to ask you some questions"

"Adam, do you know where he is?" she asked, with hope in her voice

"No ma'am, but we have connected him with 7 teenagers who went missing in the last few weeks. I need to ask you if Adam went on any social networking sites, like Twitter or Facebook?"

"Adam loved his Twitter. He had a Facebook, but he didn't use it much, just for invites to concerts and gigs. His twitter was how he communicated with his friends from England"

"You lived in England?"

"We lived there for three years, from when Adam was 11 until last year. He loved it there, he wants to go back for university"

"Thank you, ma'am. We'll be in touch if anything… happens with Adam" Morgan trailed of as Reid excused himself and took a phone call. A minute later Morgan left and found Reid outside talking.

"You're sure Garcia? OK. Tell the rest of the team, Morgan and I will be back in an hour" Reid hung up and looked at Morgan "Garcia says she's found the link."

* * *

**Haha, I'm evil, ain't I? I promise you'll get the link in the next chapter. Honest, honest.**

**Can I ask everyone to check out my joint fics with RedHeadedDynamite over on her page - we're writing an ongoing one "A Child Called Morgan" That'll be interesting to all you Morcia shippers. Its in my favourite stories (that makes me feel a little conceited)**


	6. What's The Story

**Title: The Dreams That Didn't Make The Grade  
****Author: BonesBird  
****Input from: Fabreeze &RedheadedDynamite  
****Summary: A girl. A boy. The unsub rotates. (slightly AU… not much though)  
****Characters: ALL  
****Disclaimer: I don't own these folks… CBS owns most. Redheaded Dynamite owns Vee and I own all the other OC's.  
****Lyrics: Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters and The Story of a Lonely Girl - Lostprophets**

**Chapter 6 = What's the Story? (Morning Glory - Sorry I couldn't resist)**

* * *

_You'll regret it all, living behind your walls  
__You'll never fall in love if you don't fall at all_

Prentiss was practically on the edge of her seat as the team waited to find out what she had learned, she needed to collect the evidence before she brought it up, but Prentiss hoped she'd be quick. She sat back and looked at the information she had on Katie Webster and Daniel Faraday, she had gone over almost all of it, but she hadn't found a link yet.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the connection" Garcia said, walking into the team room with her laptop and lots of paper. "I'm a girl genius because without my impeccable hacking skills we wouldn't have gotten this information. Every one of the victims visited a small concert hall the day BEFORE they went missing. Most went to a concert, Daniel went to set up for a Battle of the Bands competition that he never made it to"

"So music is the connection, just not in the way we expected" Prentiss said, looking back through the printout of Katie's favourite bands off her Facebook page. Paramore, NFG, BFS, Oasis, NoFx, Fall Out Boy, LostProphets. She suddenly felt her age, she hadn't heard of a single group. She wondered if Katie's love of these bands had been what killed her.

Prentiss felt immensely sorry for these kids, they were normal kids, they had friends, family, a life. It had all been ripped away from them, and they still had no idea why.

"Garcia. Go through the records of everyone at the concert hall. See if any of them lost a child or children, around the victims age"

"Yes sir, you think this is… what… remorse?" Garcia asked, Prentiss put a hand on Garcia's and looked at the somewhat innocent tech analyst

"He thinks he's trying to replace the children he's lost, but the kids he takes aren't living up to what his kids were."

"How far back should I look?"

"Go back three months" Hotch said, turning around to go back through the profile they had built of the unsub with Rossi and Veronica. Prentiss and JJ both walked out with Garcia, JJ stepping into her office to keep the police appraised of the situation, while Prentiss walked down with Garcia to her office. She knew that the search Garcia was about to run would take a while, but she hadn't spent much time with the Queen of Tech recently, between how close Garcia and Veronica were and Garcia's relationship with Morgan her time was mostly taken up, now she realised how it must have been when she and JJ became close.

* * *

**Short little chapter. The next one is longer. **


	7. She Knows Who He Is

**Title: The Dreams That Didn't Make The Grade  
****Author: BonesBird  
****Input from: Fabreeze &RedheadedDynamite  
****Summary: A girl. A boy. The unsub rotates. (slightly AU… not much though)  
****Characters: ALL  
****Disclaimer: I don't own these folks… CBS owns most. Redheaded Dynamite owns Vee and I own all the other OC's.  
****Lyrics: Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters and The Story of a Lonely Girl - Lostprophets**

**Chapter 7 = She Knows Who It Is**

* * *

_The nights are getting darker and the wind is cold  
__The summer sun has now become so old_

Veronica wasn't entirely sure what she expected Garcia to have dug up in the few hours since the last team briefing. Like most of the team she'd been looking at the geographical profile, trying to see if dump and abduction sites pointed anywhere. Unfortunately none of the lines crossed close enough to warrant the team going out and surveying the area. Her best friend had probably pulled more hours on this case than any of the rest of the team, she knew that in cases like this Garcia's expertise was needed more than anyone else.

"Hey girl, are you OK" Veronica asked after punching the code into her door

"Busy." Was the uncommonly sober response from Garcia. Veronica was now really worried for her, she had never had such a bland answer from the woman in the months she'd worked for the BAU.

"Girl. Come on. What time did you get in this morning?"

"A little after 7" Garcia said, Veronica looked at the clock, it was almost 9pm

"Dude, you've been working almost 14 hours, you need to sleep" Veronica placed her hands on her friends shoulder as a result flashed up on the screen.

"I think I've almost got some information the team can narrow down. A list of people affiliated with the hall that have lost kids. There was no zing for 3 months, so I went back 3 years and I've got a list of 6 people the team can narrow down." Veronica realised it was pointless to try and pull Garcia off this track now, so instead she settled and looked at the list. Before reviewing it with Garcia

"OK, so we have Paul Dresden, 39, lost a son in a car accident. Jordan Gilbert, 43 lost his daughter in another car accident, Karl Grushan, 38 lost his twins in a house fire. Harry Reynolds, 51, lost his daughter in a fall, Graham Johnson, 40, lost his son in a skiing accident, and Jason Harris, 31 lost his daughter in a fire. Take Harris off the list. He's too young" Veronica said, watching as Garcia made the alterations she had suggested.

"I'll go deliver this to Hotch, then could you or Morgan drive me home?" she asked, printing the information off for the team,

"I'll text Morgan, see if he'll drive you home" Veronica said, knowing she was going to have a strong word with Morgan about letting Garcia work 14 hours. She didn't even know if she'd taken a lunch break.

* * *

Hotch accepted the list from Garcia. She looked like she was about to fall asleep on her feet. He wondered if maybe it was time he kept an eye on her working schedule, Veronica had told him that Garcia had worked 14 hour day. He started looking over her list, he thought the one who looked most likely to be their unsub was Karl Grushan. Details on him would wait until the morning. He wanted Garcia to be at home, and to have a chance to talk the list over with at least Veronica, if not Rossi and Prentiss as well before he asked her to look into his past.

He locked his office, told the team to go home. He was glad to see Morgan was already escorting the exhausted Garcia out, and was glad to see the rest of the team leaving too. Veronica came to his side and gently took his hand, pulling him towards the door, when he resisted she leant over and whispered in his ear.

"Even the boss needs to sleep"

* * *

**So… is it Karl Grushan? … tune in later to find out!!! - Since I "forgot" to update this yesterday you're getting two chapters today. Aren't I kind to you all... Only 3 chapters left to go though!!! Then I'm gonna post a couple of Oneshots before my next case-fic "Outside" gets posted.**


	8. Will I Be Saved

**Title: The Dreams That Didn't Make The Grade  
****Author: BonesBird  
****Input from: Fabreeze &RedheadedDynamite  
****Summary: A girl. A boy. The unsub rotates. (slightly AU… not much though)  
****Characters: ALL  
****Disclaimer: I don't own these folks… CBS owns most. Redheaded Dynamite owns Vee and I own all the other OC's.  
****Lyrics: Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters and The Story of a Lonely Girl - Lostprophets**

**I mention my favourite song in this chapter, It's Not Your Fault by New Found Glory… its coming up for 4 years of being my favourite song. When you hear a song like that that sticks in your memory, it becomes wonderful.**

**Chapter 8 = Will I Be Saved**

* * *

_Your closest friends were never meant to be  
__With all these dreams that didn't make the grade_

Adam was afraid of the dark.

He'd never admitted that to anyone, most of the time he didn't even admit it to himself. He could hear every noise in the place where he was being held. He didn't know how much time had passed since He'd been put in here, and Carolina had been taken to wherever he took them. He hadn't heard a noise since. He didn't know why he'd been taken.

'_Tina, Bradley, Katie, Daniel, Kimberly, Lucan, Gracie, Jack, Carolina, Adam'_ he told himself over and over in his head. He didn't know when he added his own name. He genuinely couldn't remember, one time he hadn't put his own name after Carolina, the next time he had. He had tried to make out some of the other names with the little bit of light he got.

He spent time sleeping, and singing to himself, just so there was some noise that he could hear. He sang whatever came into his head, it had included "I know a song that'll get on your nerves". He'd sang it 40+ times before it had got on his nerves.

He was getting ready to settle down for another nap, after a spirited version of It's Not Your Fault, when he heard the door open, he curled back into the corner of his cage before he heard the shout

"Rossi, it's clear down here"

"Help… help me" Adam shouted as loudly as he could. He realised he must have been singing in his head, his voice was almost silent, and he realised he was thirsty. Very thirsty.

"Hi, hi, Adam. I'm Emily. I'm from the FBI"

"Can I go home?" He asked, as she tried to undo the lock on his cage

"Of course you can sweetie."

"I need to tell you something" he watched as she stopped, and looked at him "Tina, Bradley, Katie, Daniel, Kimberly, Lucan, Gracie, Jack, Carolina. They are who was here before me. Names and dates are on the walls" He coughed, and she took him out.

* * *

**Another short little chapter. But there we go. Adam is rescued. Was it Karl… find out next chapter!**


	9. Making The Arrest

**Title: The Dreams That Didn't Make The Grade  
****Author: BonesBird  
****Input from: Fabreeze &RedheadedDynamite  
****Summary: A girl. A boy. The unsub rotates. (slightly AU… not much though)  
****Characters: ALL  
****Disclaimer: I don't own these folks… CBS owns most. Redheaded Dynamite owns Vee and I own all the other OC's.  
****Lyrics: Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters and The Story of a Lonely Girl - Lostprophets**

**Chapter 9 = Wrapping Up The Case**

* * *

_Close the doors but never look inside  
__Time will tell if all your love has died  
__Empty pockets tell the story_

"Karl Grushan, this is the FBI we have a warrant" Morgan shouted at the door to the house. When there was no answer they all rushed in, in time to hear the unsub jumping out of the window. Hotch and Morgan followed. Morgan was only a step behind Hotch when the unsub fell. Hotch jumped on him while Morgan trained his gun on him. The guy was fighting Hotch with every ounce of strength he had, but as Hotch pulled him to his feet he stopped fighting, and just grinned at them. As he was pulled away by the police and into a waiting car they were called back into the house.

"Hotch, there are 50 names and dates here"

"50, 50 kids"

"Starting last year"

"When his children died"

* * *

Hotch and Morgan were the ones doing his interview, they didn't normally, but for the entire team they needed to know why this guy had taken 50 children. The interview didn't go as planned. Hotch had to restrain Morgan when he made a comment about the girls of the team, though Hotch had wanted to kill him himself at that point. The minute the case was over, and they'd found Adam. They'd had time to get all the evidence.

He was going away for a long time

* * *

Garcia was working with the list of dates of birth and names. She had found 20 of the children, and given their families some comfort. She was working on the other 13, she couldn't bare the thought of these children's families having no closure. She couldn't always find the answers, but she was going to keep trying. She typed in another search. Hoping to come across Ella.

She was still trying 3 hours later when Morgan made her have Lunch.

She was trying 4 hours after that when Veronica made her have dinner.

She was still searching when Hotch came down and made her leave.

She started searching again first thing the next morning

The next afternoon she found her.

She was in foster care.

Nobody wanted her, nobody remembered her.

Garcia swore to remember little Ella.

* * *

**I know, its short. But I turned the song off and my inspiration dried up. I'm putting it back on for the next, and final, chapter.**


	10. Remembering The Dead

**Title: The Dreams That Didn't Make The Grade  
****Author: BonesBird  
****Input from: Fabreeze &RedheadedDynamite  
****Summary: A girl. A boy. The unsub rotates. (slightly AU… not much though)  
****Characters: ALL  
****Disclaimer: I don't own these folks… CBS owns most. Redheaded Dynamite owns Vee and I own all the other OC's.  
****Lyrics: Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters and The Story of a Lonely Girl - Lostprophets**

**Chapter 10 = Remembering the Dead**

* * *

_You'll regret it all, living behind your walls  
__You'll never fall in love if you don't risk it all_

The team stood together, dressed for the event they were attending. They watched as the hearse pulled up alongside their SUVs they watched as Carolina George's friends lifted her casket onto their shoulders, the tears were falling freely down her friends faces. The team watched, each clasping a black rose in their hands. Morgan wrapped his arm around Garcia as her tears fell. She had spent the last four days working to identify the last names. The only one she'd found no family for had been a 13-year-old foster girl, Ella. She had nothing more than her foster name, Ella Thompson, and a date of birth. Morgan had held her through the night the day she found her, promising that the two of them wouldn't let her be forgotten. They were planning to get a memorial plaque for her in the local memorial gardens at the cemetery. She had been devastated that nobody missed that little girl. She'd been his youngest victim. That had hit her hard.

She had mourned for that little girl.

Now she mourned for the girl they were 5 days too late to save.

5 days.

That hit him hard too. It had hit the whole team.

He hated the part of his job that meant they couldn't save every victim. Sometimes they needed another to finish a profile.

Coralina "Carolina" George had been that link. She had broken the case.

She had saved Adam.

He had come to the funeral, he had ridden with the team. He had had an emotional meeting with Carolina's mother about her last words.

"See you on the other side" She'd said.

Mrs George had taken that to mean that Carolina was waiting for her, on the other side of the veil that was death.

* * *

A few hours later each member of the team sat in their respective houses, with their respective families, and took a pause, to think about the young lives who had been lost, because of one fire. 52 teenagers had died. The original two victims, Amanda and Ryan Grushan, and the 50 teens their father had used to replace them. Their hearts were warmed by Adam Cuthbert, who they had managed to save.

His life would never be the same.

Hotch gave Jack an extra long hug at bedtime

Veronica spent ten minutes longer giving him his story

JJ stood over Henry's crib, watching her baby sleep

Prentiss took a drink, toasting the child she'd saved

Rossi thought of the children whose lives he had helped

Garcia looked into making a family

Morgan made sure she knew what she wanted

Reid thought about his own childhood, and the children who would never reach their potential.

The 8 of them had been touched by every case they had ever worked. Some touched them deeper, some stayed with them, and reminded them that life was fleeting.

The 8 of them approached life with new vigor that night.

They lived each day for them

The 52.

* * *

**Just so you know. I hate writing endings.**

**I really enjoyed writing this fic. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. I hope it was believable. That is my one hope for this.**

**So. Come tomorrow I'm gonna start posting my new case fic. But that will only be updated weekly as I gotta make it last! Got a couple more case-fics in the plan and lots of fluff/angst one-shots being written. Alongside the HUGE fluff/angst fic I'm writing with RedheadedDynamite - check it out for me. Please!!!**


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